Journey Along The Tea Trail － Kenya

Situated astride the Equator and bordering the Indian Ocean, Kenya is a country with fascinating features and wildlife and prides itself as one of the world’s leading black tea producers.

Tea was first introduced in Kenya in 1903 when tea seeds from India were first planted on a two acre farm Commercial planting began in the 1920s and today, Kenya accounts for over 20% of world exports. The majority of its production is manufactured using the C.T.C which makes it particularly suitable for teabags. Its teas are very bright, and colorful, with a reddish coppery tint and brisk flavour.

Kenya’s equatorial location makes year-round production possible, guaranteeing a perpetually fresh product. It has a developed road and rail network for transporting tea from the gardens to the port town of Mombasa where it is then shipped to the UK, Middle East and Europe. Much of its tea is sold to tea packers through the Mombasa auction which also serves other East African tea producing countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

Tea Growing Areas of Kenya

Kenya’s tea growing regions are endowed with volcanic red soils, well distributed rainfall and plenty of sunshine. The main tea growing areas are situated in and around the highland areas on both sides of the Great Rift Valley, and astride the Equator within altitudes of between 1500 meters and 2700 meters above sea level. The Kericho region on the western side of the Great Rift valley is where most of the tea plantations are found.

About 60 percent of the tea in Kenya is produced by small-scale farmers. These farmers then sell their produce through the Kenya Tea Development Authority, the body in charge of collecting and processing the tea leaves, who in turn sell it the outside market though the auction process or by direct sales. The remaining 40 percent of Kenyan tea is grown on large, privately – owned farms.